Day: November 15, 2017

A study by the King Baudouin Foundation, published on Tuesday, says that the majority of researchers in Belgian universities consider that competition within the research community has a negative impact on research quality. This survey, conducted anongst 1,720 researchers, reveals that they are, above all, motivated by generating new knowledge. Besides being in competition, they also lament the constant quest for funding, which is considered to be problematic, as well as the lack of time to conduct their research. As alluded to above, researchers are not working for money or…

David Davis’s plea for more imagination and flexibility from the EU in hopes of early start to trade talks met a stony response. The big picture At the end of a brief sixth round of Brexit talks last week, the EU27 set Britain a tight two-week deadline to provide vital further clarification on the financial commitments it is willing to honour as part of the divorce deal. The Brexit secretary, David Davis, asked for more imagination and flexibility in a bid to move the talks on from the key article…

In 2016, a total of 108,500 fines were issued for GSM use at the wheel. This corresponds to an average of nearly 300 offences observed per day. This emerges from the figures communicated by the Minister for the Interior, Jan Jambon (New Flemish Alliance). This came in response to a parliamentary question by the Flemish Christian Democrats deputy, Jef Van den Bergh. More than half of these fines (58,012) targeted car drivers, and approximately a quarter (25,442) van drivers. Heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) were targeted on some 7,025 occasions, and…

The Commission intends to establish a High Level Expert group and launch a public consultation on fake news and online disinformation. The results will provide input to the development of an EU-level strategy on how to tackle the spreading of fake news, to be presented in spring 2018. “The freedom to receive and impart information and the pluralism of the media are enshrined in the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights,“ said First Vice-President Frans Timmermans yesterday (13 November). “ “We live in an era where the flow of information and…

EU

Plans to take back control of UK fisheries the moment Britain leaves the EU appear to have been abandoned in the face of united EU opposition, dealing a significant blow to the ambitions of the environment secretary, Michael Gove. Gove put repatriating control of fisheries at the heart...